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AP - Johnny Knoxville and his pals pulled another prank on Hollywood as their sequel of crazy stunts, "[bleeped!] Number Two," beat a rush of serious movies to take the top spot at the weekend box office.

BEIJING (AFP) - NASA chief Michael Griffin met with top Chinese space officials here and toured facilities during the first visit to China by a US space agency head. Griffin, who arrived here Saturday on a six-day visit to China, held talks Sunday with his Chinese counterpart Sun Laiyan, head of the China National Space Administration. Earlier he toured the Chinese Academy of Space Technology and met with its president Yuan Jiayun. NASA spokeswoman Melissa Mathews said Griffin was in China to establish contact and learn about the country's space programme. "Generally speaking the administrator is coming here to meet his counterpart and to try to understand China and to get to know the space programme here so it is really an introductory kind of meeting," she said Sunday. On Monday Griffin is scheduled to meet with China's minister of science and technology and to deliver a speech to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Plans for Griffin to visit China's rocket launch centre in the Gobi desert "did not work out," Mathews said, adding that on Tuesday he would leave Beijing for Shanghai and return from there Thursday to the United States. China has long sought closer cooperation with the United States on space but Washington has been lukewarm because of concerns about the involvement of China's military in its space programme. China entered the exclusive rank of top space nations in 2003 when it sent up its first manned mission, joining the United States and Russia. In 2005 it launched a second orbiting mission with two astronauts, and also hopes to send an unmanned probe to the Moon by 2010. China spends 500 million dollars a year on its space programmes, according to official figures. NASA's proposed budget for 2007 is nearly 17 billion dollars.

By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago NEW YORK - In a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday," former President Clinton defended his handling of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden, saying he tried to have bin Laden killed and was attacked for his efforts by the same people who now criticize him for not doing enough. ADVERTISEMENT "That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now," Clinton said in the interview. "They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try." Clinton accused host Chris Wallace of a "conservative hit job" and asked: "I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked, 'Why didn't you do anything about the Cole?' I want to know how many people you asked, 'Why did you fire Dick Clarke?'" He was referring to the USS Cole, attacked by terrorists in Yemen in 2000, and former White House anti-terrorism chief Richard A. Clarke. Wallace said Sunday he was surprised by Clinton's "conspiratorial view" of "a very non-confrontational question, 'Did you do enough to connect the dots and go after Al Qaida?'" "All I did was ask him a question, and I think it was a legitimate news question. I was surprised that he would conjure up that this was a hit job," Wallace said in a telephone interview. Clinton said he "worked hard" to try to kill bin Laden. "We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody's gotten since," he said. He told Wallace, "And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it, but I did try and I did everything I thought I responsibly could." The interview was taped Friday during Clinton's three-day Global Initiative conference.

Reuters - Japan's Honda Motor Co. (7267.T) has done it again.

2 hours, 2 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A newspaper report that a U.S. intelligence analysis said the Iraq war gave rise to a new generation of Islamic radicals and made the overall terrorism problem worse was "not representative of the complete document," the White House said on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT The New York Times in its Sunday editions reported that a classified National Intelligence Estimate completed in April said Islamic radicalism had mushroomed worldwide and cited the Iraq war as a reason for the spread of jihadist ideology. It was the first formal appraisal of global terrorism by U.S. intelligence agencies since the Iraq war began in March 2003 and represents a consensus view of the 16 spy services. "The New York Times' characterization of the NIE is not representative of the complete document," White House spokesman Peter Watkins said. "Their (terrorists') hatred for freedom and liberty did not develop overnight, those seeds were planted decades ago. Instead of waiting while they plot and plan attacks to kill innocent Americans, the United States has taken the initiative to fight back," he said. The spokesman said he would not comment on information contained in the classified document. President George W. Bush has steadfastly insisted that his decision to invade Iraq was the right action to take to head off a potential threat. At fundraisers ahead of the November congressional elections he has been striving to portray his administration as tough on terrorism and Republicans as the best party to protect Americans. Democrats, trying to win control of Congress from Republicans, have emphasized an increasingly unpopular Iraq war with the public. Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record) of California, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said she agreed that the Iraq war had caused the spread of jihadist ideology. "Every intelligence analyst I speak to confirms that," she said on CNN's "Late Edition." "And that is why ... the best military commission proposal in the world and even capturing the remaining top al Qaeda leadership isn't going to prevent copycat cells, and it isn't going to change a failed policy in Iraq," she said. "This administration is trying to change the subject. I don't think voters are going to buy that."

AP - The bill is coming due for years of generous benefits bestowed upon the nation's public employees, and it's a stunner: hundreds of billions of dollars over the next three decades, threatening some local governments with bankruptcy and all but guaranteeing cuts in services like education and public safety.

By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer 49 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Maneuvering toward a pre-election showdown on immigration, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Sunday said he would seek passage of legislation to secure the borders and predicted Democrats would resist. ADVERTISEMENT "Right now I got a feeling the Democrats may obstruct it," said Frist, R-Tenn. The bill is all that is left of a comprehensive immigration proposal generally backed by President Bush that included provisions for a guest worker program and ways for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to work toward legal status and eventual citizenship. Frist led a bipartisan effort to pass that measure this year, but House Republicans opposed it as too lenient on immigrants in the country illegally. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, accused Frist of playing politics by seeking to blame Democrats. Frist's move is an attempt to cover up his failure to push through more comprehensive changes, Manley said. "The Senate spent almost a month debating and then passing tough and smart immigration reform that included border security, but Republican obstructionism has prevented us from completing that bill," Manley said in a statement. In December, the House passed legislation that concentrated on border security and enforcement of laws banning employment of undocumented workers; the Senate in May then passed its broader bill. Since then, there's been no progress in efforts to reconcile the two bills. With no prospects this year for passing broader immigration changes, House GOP leaders said taking action to seal the border was a matter of urgency. Some GOP lawmakers including Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., however, have said they're not sure immigration could be addressed "on a piecemeal basis." Frist said he is willing to push ahead with a narrower version favored by House Republicans. Even so, action may not be possible before the November elections, he said, blaming Democrats. "If you're going to address immigration reform, you have to first and foremost secure our borders," he said on ABC's "This Week." "What I've done, and hopefully what we'll be voting on the floor of the Senate this week, is take the common parts of the House bill and the common parts of the Senate bill."

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 3 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's feuding ethnic and sectarian groups agreed Sunday to consider amending the constitution and begin debating legislation to create a federated nation, while the Shiite prime minister appealed for an end to violence during Ramadan. Despite Nouri al-Maliki's plea for peace, violence killed at least 20 Iraqis and wounded 37 a day before the official start of the Muslim holy month. Two U.S. Marines died in combat in restive Anbar province west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders broke a two-week deadlock and agreed on a compromise that will allow parliament to take up Shiite-proposed draft legislation to permit creation of partly self-ruling regions. Sunni Arabs have fought the federalism bill, fearing it will splinter the country and deny them a share of Iraq's oil, which is found in the predominantly Kurdish north and the heavily Shiite south. But they agreed to a legislative debate after all parties accepted a Sunni demand that a parliamentary committee be set up to study amending the constitution. The committee will be named Monday and the federalism bill will be read to 275-member parliament a day later. Sunni Arabs hope to win an amendment that would make it more difficult to establish autonomous regions. The deal opened the way for Iraq's communities to move ahead politically and solve an impasse that threatened to further sour relations between them. If left unresolved, the deadlock could have further shaken Iraq's fragile democracy and led to more sectarian violence. The parliamentary committee will be made up of 27 legislators from all ethnic, sectarian and religious coalitions and parties. It will have four months to propose amendments, which then would have to be approved by a majority in parliament before being put to a national referendum. "I expect the work of the committee will last for about one year," Dhafir al-Anihe, a lawmaker with the Sunni Arab National Accordance Front, told The Associated Press. The federalism bill will be read to the legislature Tuesday and then debated for two days before parliament breaks for the Iraqi weekend. The legislation would be read again, with any changes made by legislators, next Sunday. A vote would come four days after the second reading, with the bill needing a simple majority for passage. If approved, it would be implemented 18 months later, according to the deal made by the parties, allowing time for consideration of constitutional amendments. "That was our agreement," Accordance Front legislator Hassan al-Shammari said. The legislation calls for setting up a framework that would allow creation of autonomous regions in the Shiite south, much like the self-ruling Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Sunni Arabs warn that setting up such regions could intensify sectarian divisions that have brought months of retaliatory killings between Sunnis and Shiites. Although federalism is enshrined in the constitution approved by Iraqis in a referendum a year ago, the right to seek amendments to the charter was a key demand made by Sunni Arabs when they agreed to join al-Maliki's national unity government in the spring. The depth of enmity between Shiites and Sunni Arabs was evident in their disagreement over the day Ramadan was to begin. Sunni Arabs began observing the month of daytime fasting Saturday, while Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, declared the start to be Monday. The Shiite-led government followed al-Sistani's lead. Sectarian violence has been intense in Baghdad this year. A Saturday bombing in the Shiite slum of Sadr City killed at least 38 people buying fuel for Ramadan. A Sunni Arab extremist group claimed responsibility, saying it was revenge for an attack by gunmen Friday on Sunni Arab homes and mosques that killed four people. A lawmaker loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose stronghold is in Sadr City, demanded that Sunni Arabs take action against the group behind the bombing. "All our brothers in religion should declare their innocence from such acts in order to isolate those criminals," Falah Hassan Shanshal said in a statement to parliament. Earlier, the prime minister pleaded for peace and unity. "We are all invited to make use of these days to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and avoid anything that could hurt the social fabric of the Iraqi people," al-Maliki said in s statement. "Iraq is living in a very sensitive and historic period, either we live as loving brothers side by side and undivided by sectarianism or Iraq will shift into an area for settling accounts of political parties." At least 20 people were killed and 37 injured Sunday in scattered violence around Iraq, including a mortar attack on the Health Ministry in Baghdad and a car bombing aimed at a police patrol in the city. Police also discovered 13 more apparent victims of sectarian death squads. The prime minister's office said Iraqi forces had arrested a leader and seven aides in the 1920 Revolution Brigades, also known as the al-Ashreen Brigades, a group responsible for attacks and kidnappings. It said they were caught Saturday northeast of Baghdad, but gave no further details. ___ Associated Press writers Patrick Quinn, David Rising, Sinan Salaheddin, Sameer N. Yacoub and Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report.

By TIM MARTIN, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 24, 10:06 AM ET EAST LANSING, Mich. - Notre Dame looked beaten and Michigan State looked unstoppable. Then, in a stunning turn of events, cornerback Terrail Lambert capped a furious rally by returning an interception 27 yards for a touchdown with 2:53 remaining to give the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish a 40-37 victory over the Spartans on Saturday night. The loss stunned Michigan State (3-1) and its pumped-up fans, who remained in the stands despite heavy rain in the second half, convinced they were going to see the Spartans beat the Irish (3-1) for the eighth time in 10 games. But it wasn't to be. Lambert made sure of that, following up his score by ending the Spartans' hopes moments later with a juggling interception of Drew Stanton's pass in the closing seconds of the game. "Late in the game, I made some stupid mistakes," Stanton said. That the decisive plays came from the Irish defense, exposed in a blowout loss to Michigan last week and for much of the game Saturday, may have been the most surprising development. But the Irish offense also clicked late, led by quarterback Brady Quinn. Quinn started slow, going just 2-of-8 for 6 yards in the first quarter as Michigan State jumped out to a 17-0 lead. But he finished 20-of-36 for 319 yards with five TDs against one interception. "Give all the credit to Notre Dame," Michigan State running back Javon Ringer said. "They stepped up when they had to." The Irish trailed 37-21 entering the fourth quarter. But Quinn threw TD passes to Jeff Samardzija (43 yards) and Rhema McKnight (14 yards) to cut the lead to 37-33 with 4:57 remaining. McKnight's score was set up by another big play by the defense. Notre Dame safety Chinedum Ndukwe stripped the ball from Stanton and recovered it at the Michigan State 24 with about 6 minutes remaining. Michigan State's Jehuu Caulcrick finished with 111 yards and a TD on eight carries. Stanton ran for 53 yards, and completed 10 of 22 passes for 114 yards. He had two TD passes and the two interceptions. Michigan State looked like it might continue its recent good fortune against the Irish, which included a 44-41 overtime victory in South Bend last year after which a few Spartan players planted a school flag near midfield. The Spartans led this one 31-14 at halftime and looked as if they should be preparing for another postgame celebration. "When we went into halftime we said if we don't play 30 minutes of complete football we have no chance." Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. It was all Michigan State early, as the Spartans rolled up 260 yards of offense in the first half. After forcing a Notre Dame punt, the Spartans scored on a three-play, 73-yard drive on their first possession. The drive was capped by a 34-yard touchdown pass from Stanton to Kerry Reed. Notre Dame's Tom Zbikowski fumbled a punt that Michigan State's punter, Brandon Fields, recovered at the 50. The Spartans scored on a trick play, with receiver Matt Trannon throwing a 26-yard TD pass to a wide-open Javon Ringer. Brett Swenson added a 32-yard field goal late in the first quarter. The teams were meeting for the 70th time and Notre Dame holds a 44-25-1 edge in the series. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the famous 10-10 tie between the two programs, the 1966 'Game of the Century.' The Spartans retired the No. 95 jersey of defensive end Bubba Smith, a star of the '66 team who was picked No. 1 overall by the Baltimore Colts in the 1967 NFL draft. Weis said after the win that he would give Ara Parseghian, the coach of Notre Dame's 1966 team, a ball from Saturday's game.

By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 24, 10:03 AM ET MANCHESTER, England - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday that NATO's battle with Afghan insurgents has been more difficult than anticipated but must continue. ADVERTISEMENT "I think the particular mission was tougher than anyone expected. But I'm not surprised it was tough," Blair said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. TV in Manchester, where his Labour Party is holding its annual meeting. "The British troops there are doing just an incredible job." "The whole reason we've gone into that as part of the NATO force under the U.N. resolution is because it is essential for the Taliban and al-Qaida to come back into the southern part of Afghanistan and it's essential for us to keep them out," Blair said. Over the last few months, southern Afghanistan has seen some of the fiercest fighting since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban regime. Blair's government has had to cope with charges by middle-ranking officers in Afghanistan that ground troops have not received adequate air support and other backing. With around 5,000 troops in the restive Helmand province in the south, Britain is an important part of a NATO force trying to subdue insurgents to permit reconstruction. Britain's army has been defending itself in response to critical e-mail messages from officers that were leaked to the news media. On Thursday, Maj. Jon Swift said in a message from Afghanistan that, "The scale of casualties has not been properly reported and shows no sign of reducing." His comments were posted on a regimental Web site, but were quickly withdrawn, the BBC reported. On Friday, several British broadcasters quoted from an e-mail message written by Maj. James Loden. "The R.A.F. have been utterly, utterly useless," Maj. Loden was quoted as saying, referring to two instances involving Harrier warplanes during which pilots allegedly missed enemy forces and jeopardized British troops. Sir Richard Dannatt, Britain's chief of general staff, said in a written statement that, "The way the R.A.F. has performed in support of our operations in Afghanistan has been exceptional. Irresponsible comments, based on a snapshot, are regrettable." In a television interview, Dannatt denied that the British authorities were seeking to underreport casualty figures. "We have got nothing to hide as far as that is concerned," he said. "The truth is what matters." Britain's defense ministry said of Loden's comments: "It must be remembered that this is the opinion of only one man. The general view is very different." Defense Minister Des Browne acknowledged in an address to the Royal United Services Institute think-tank this week that the battle in southern Afghanistan had been harder than expected. He rejected suggestions that British forces were poorly supported.

woah, (counting fingers), i'd need 500+(25*12)=800 posts yearly in order to get a .com domain. therefore, if 6 years is my goal here, i will need 4800 posts. Wait, what if i only need the dot com domain but not the hosting? (I have hosting from another place), can I use the hosting I have right now with the new dot com domain? (I assume it {the domain} costs 500 posts a year)

By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent Sun Sep 24, 9:58 AM ET LONDON (Reuters) - A leaked intelligence report of Osama bin Laden's death has met scepticism from Western and Muslim governments but may increase a clamor from his followers to show himself on video for the first time in nearly two years. ADVERTISEMENT One theory surrounding the mysterious French leak is that it was designed precisely to flush the al Qaeda leader into the open, prompting him to release a new tape that might give a clue to his whereabouts and state of health. "Western intelligence, the Americans, the Saudis want bin Laden to appear," said Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamist groups at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. "Perhaps they're trying to agitate him to appear by video to try to fix some information about his real (location)." Rashwan said expectations of an imminent appearance by bin Laden had mounted among contributors to Islamist Web sites discussing the report of his demise. The French regional daily L'Est Republican quoted France's DGSE foreign intelligence agency as saying the Saudi secret services were convinced the al Qaeda leader had died of typhoid in Pakistan in late August. But France, the United States and Britain all said they were unable to confirm the death of bin Laden, who in previous tapes over the past five years has boasted of how he ordered the September 11 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people. Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had no evidence that he had died, and reports to that effect were "purely speculative." ABSENT FROM VIEW Bin Laden's most recent audiotapes were issued in July, but the al Qaeda leader, believed to suffer from a serious kidney ailment, has not recorded any new video message since the eve of the U.S. presidential election in late 2004. That long absence from view -- contrasting with frequent, high-quality video broadcasts from his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri -- has heightened speculation he is either too ill to appear, or too tightly confined to a secret hiding place. A new tape would give Western intelligence significant clues to bin Laden's physical state. And the logistical chain involved in producing and delivering it to a broadcaster such as Al Jazeera could also be vulnerable to investigation. But the other, perhaps more likely, explanation behind the French leak is that is just the latest of many speculative and poorly sourced scraps of intelligence on bin Laden, the world's most famous fugitive. The latest account said he had died from typhoid; others have had him expiring from a lung disease or killed by bombing. Despite a statement last year from then- CIA boss Porter Goss that he had an "excellent" idea of bin Laden's whereabouts, the trail appears to be cold. "The big question is whether his death ... would have a demoralising effect, or if he achieves the status of martyr and becomes a rallying figure," one U.S. intelligence official said this weekend. Rashwan, however, was in no doubt bin Laden's death, whenever it happened, would be announced by al Qaeda within days because it would make him an even more powerful symbol and motivator for his supporters. "He is now the symbol of the Islamic jihad," he said. "He will become for them a kind of myth. It will give them more inspiration than the individual himself."

By MARK NIESSE, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 24, 9:09 AM ET HONOLULU - Liberal incumbent Sen. Daniel Akaka (news, bio, voting record) beat back a challenge from upstart Rep. Ed Case (news, bio, voting record) in Hawaii's Democratic primary. Case conceded the race just before midnight Saturday, when returns showed he trailed 55 percent to 45 percent with all but one precinct reporting. He trailed in every county, including those in his own 2nd District. ADVERTISEMENT Whom Akaka faces in the general election remained a mystery after former Vietnam prisoner of war Jerry Coffee, who pulled out of the race because of health reasons, won the GOP nomination. Republicans have three days to name a replacement candidate. Akaka had 128,927 votes to Case's 106,968. "I want to thank Hawaii for supporting me all these years," he said Saturday night. "It has been a tough campaign for me." Akaka, 82, has served in Congress for 30 years and drew on his experience to boost his candidacy. Case, 53, who did not win on any of Hawaii's islands, had argued that the state needed a younger, more moderate senator. "Losing is never easy," he said in his concession speech. "It doesn't mean the ideas we put forward in this campaign are not valid." Case faced the difficult challenge of unseating Akaka, who campaigned on his consistent votes against the Iraq war and his congressional seniority as reasons voters should back him. While the Senate race attracted the most interest, voters also picked candidates for Hawaii's two congressional districts, governor, and state and local positions. In the governor's race, former state Sen. Randy Iwase won the Democratic nomination over Hawaiian activist William Aila. Iwase will take on Gov. Linda Lingle, who secured the GOP nomination and is expected to easily win a second term. The race for Case's congressional seat developed into a free-for-all, with a dozen experienced candidates seeking their parties' nominations. Former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono emerged as the apparent winner in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. With all but one precinct reporting, Hirono received 24,385 votes in the 10-way race, compared to 23,586 for state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, who was in second place. Hirono will face either State Sen. Bob Hogue or Rep. Quentin Kawananakoa in November. Hogue was leading Kawananakoa 8,393 to 8,194 in the Republican primary in one of the closest races in the state. In the 1st District, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (news, bio, voting record) easily beat immigration attorney Alexandra Kaan for the Democratic nomination. Abercrombie had 82,137 votes compared to Kaan's 21,656. Abercrombie will face Richard Hough, a major in the Army Reserve, who defeated real estate agent Mark Terry, 5,649 votes to 4,177. Democratic-leaning Hawaii has never unseated an incumbent member of Congress since it became a state in 1959, but Case had centered his campaign around the idea that voters need to boot Akaka in favor of a more youthful representative who can start to build up seniority. Some voters leaving the polls Saturday who supported Akaka said they valued his seniority and consistent record. "Experience does matter. I didn't like the dirty comparisons" that Case made in TV ads, said Ted Awaya of Honolulu. Others backing Case said they wanted a new face in the Senate. "I think we need a change. We've been in a stalemate for too many years and we needed someone new," Nancy Clines said. Akaka, who drew endorsements from leading Senate Democrats, held more than a 2-to-1 advantage in fundraising, collecting more than $2 million to Case's $817,000 by early this month. Hawaii has had the lowest voter turnout in the nation, with even less participation in primaries. Turnout appeared to have improved over 2004's 40 percent, with more than 42 percent of the state's 655,741 registered voters casting ballots, including record early and absentee voting. Results from the voting were slow, with tallying extending well into Sunday morning. Elections officials waited 4 1/2 hours after polls closed for the last precinct to report in before releasing any of the day's vote. Hawaii uses both hand ballots and voting machines, and results from outlying islands are transmitted by computer modem into the election system. Results are issued only in hand-printed reports that are also posted on a state Web site. Elections officials took taxies to pick up ballot boxes on the main island of Oahu, which was the slowest to report returns.

Reuters - Meryl Streep, who plays a tyrannical fashion magazine editor in the film "The Devil Wears Prada," does not wear shoes by the Italian fashion house.

Reuters - The United States and its Middle East policies are to blame for a recent failed attack on the U.S. embassy in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was quoted on Sunday as saying in a German magazine.

AP - A car dealership's planned radio advertisement that declared "a jihad on the automotive market" has drawn sharp criticism for its content but will not be changed, the business said Saturday.